MiniHGal
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I know its been a while since I’ve posted…life is busy! But I did want to post about the Dr. Henry Boyd Memorial CDE (carriage driving event). I have tons and tons of pictures; I apologize in advance…but I did resize all of them! I don’t even have the pictures from Cones—they are not currently in my possession.
In any case, the Boyd CDE lasted from Aug. 3-6 at Woodside, CA, a several hour drive from home. There were over 60 entries, and 6 of those were VSE (one Training, four Prelim, and one Intermediate). There were lots of Training and Prelim horses and ponies, with several pairs and one tandem. There were 11(including me) Intermediate competitors, with 3 pairs included. We arrived (my mom and I) on Wednesday night, around 10 or so, as we had a very late start getting on the road. With as much stuff as we have, it’s a good thing we no longer show out of a 2 horse trailer with no dressing room! Thursday dawned bright and chilly; fortunately, dressage did not start until about 12, as only Training level and all the VSEs(Very Small Equines)—except for me—were to drive that day. This gave my mom plenty of time to warm up, and allowed us to groom and be ‘go-fer’ for each other.
My mom drove Dan at the Preliminary level—his first time at Prelim, and his fourth driving show. He did pretty well, considering the size of the event and his amount of experience at shows. They sat in fourth after Dressage, close behind the next competitor. Dan got lots of compliments on how beautiful he was.
Then came Friday. Friday, all of the Preliminary horses and ponies, and all of the Intermediate competitors drove dressage. The order of go listed me as last, in a class all my own—Single Intermediate VSE. Just in front of me were: Walt Rector, Diane Kastama, and Fritz Grupe….lets just say those are HARD acts to follow. Diane’s going to the Disabled Driving World Championships, Fritz is the National Pairs Champion, and Walt is also a very high level pairs driver. Rather humbling to go out and drive my dressage test after them. But we did it. And not too badly either; right on the high(high=bad, low=good) end of the average scores for Intermediate. Hopefully we will get better. Interestingly enough, the average time taken to drive the test we drove was 8 minutes; we did it in 11 minutes…the head judge thought it would take 16 minutes ( I didn’t think so).
Because there was no official course walk, we were very glad we had brought bikes, as the Horse Park sprawls over a bunch of rolling hills. Walking hazards (to choose the best route) is not something I would suggest by moonlight! The hazards were excellent, with plenty of routes and a good mix of technical and tight, and wide open and flowing. The course was absolutely gorgeous, as the Horse Park is meant to be a multipurpose facility and is huge. As I was, again, last, after all of the competitors, I was a little worried about the footing, especially in the water hazards and on some of the course. My mom was second to go, so she had a nice packed course to play on.
Early in the morning (9:05), my mom and Dan drove off on the marathon, starting Sect. A. Because she had to borrow my marathon cart (hers developed a problem that rendered it unfit for marathon), she took it nice and easy in the hazards, which didn’t help her score any, but Dan looked very nice. Then we sat around and watched other marathon gos, enjoying the variety of turnouts.
Finally it was my turn to hitch and go—after putting on a new glue shoe on Fascination and rebanding her braids. Of course, we were early, so we spent a good half hour walking around in circles, waiting for start of Sect. A. Since Intermediate VSEs get to have a three section marathon (A, D, E) instead of a two section marathon (A and E), we had a walk section this time! (Sect. A is a trot section with no hazards, D is the walk section, and E is a trot section with hazards) Our marathon was a nice long one this time: 2.9 km Sect A, 1 km Sect D, and 7.3 km Sect E, for a total of 11.2 km on course, and a time around an hour and 15 minutes—by far the longest anyone would be out on course. Our marathon go was one of the best we have ever done—she was smooth and responsive with lots of speed (which she never lacks). Our total marathon penalties (calculated off of the time spent in hazards) was about 50, which was the lowest of all the Intermediates—meaning we were the fastest overall in the hazards! Looking at the scores later, Fascination and I were 3rd fastest in two of the six hazards, 2nd fastest in one, and the fastest in 3 of the 6.
Coming into End of E (end of the marathon), Fascination was only lightly sweated and had plenty left. This earned us the Best Conditioned Horse award, which was a horse heart monitor from Carriage Driving Essentials. Haven’t tried it yet, but it should be awesome!
Finally it was Sunday, cones day! For once, my mom and I hitched and drove at the same time that weekend. Cones was a sprawling course, only tight for horses in a couple of spots. My mom, having little to lose, went all out and cantered the whole course, and went double clean (no course or time penalties). Her time was faster than most of the horses. I drove more conservatively than normal, trotting most of the course, and only galloping a couple sections. But still, I think we were one of the fastest times. We also went double clean.
At the end of each class, they handed out the ribbons and read the placings. My mom was third out of four in Prelim Single VSE, and I was one out of one in Intermediate Single VSE. However, after cones, I was second overall in the Intermediate division (out of 11), and first among the singles. The top Intermediate driver was Fritz Grupe with his amazing horses—I am very pleased to be anywhere near his scores! Fascination is one of the first Intermediate VSEs in the US, certainly the first in CA. I don't know whether any other events have actually offered Intermediate VSE.
So there you have it….exhaustingly long and probably way too much information. Never mind that, pretty pictures to follow!
And the URL links have more pictures that are cool to look at, but I didn't want to put that many pictures on here!
Dan:
Walking out to the warm up ring:
He was a little bouncy at first...
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...70/ed9496a9.jpg
But got better:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...a4/ed9496a1.jpg
And in dressage, trotting around the arena:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...b9/ed949699.jpg
Showing off a very nice lengthened trot:
And marathon--trotting into Hazard 4:
Entering the water in Hazard 4:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...00/ed9496bf.jpg
And cantering out of the water in 4:
Trotting out of Hazard 5, "Stumphenge":
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...a5/ed9496b5.jpg
And now for Fascination and I:
Thursday workout, dirty harness and marathon cart:
Practicing the beginnings of a collected trot (it is going to be a long time before she is strong enough to hold a lot of collected strides, but we are getting there):
And some lengthened trot:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...c1/ed948b35.jpg
And some working trot (a little stronger than I would like to see):
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...e3/ed948b3a.jpg
And dressage on Friday:
Working trot:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...ae/ed949668.jpg
Lengthened Walk:
Head Study, with her pretty little braids (yes, the forelock is supposed to stay down, but it didn't):
In any case, the Boyd CDE lasted from Aug. 3-6 at Woodside, CA, a several hour drive from home. There were over 60 entries, and 6 of those were VSE (one Training, four Prelim, and one Intermediate). There were lots of Training and Prelim horses and ponies, with several pairs and one tandem. There were 11(including me) Intermediate competitors, with 3 pairs included. We arrived (my mom and I) on Wednesday night, around 10 or so, as we had a very late start getting on the road. With as much stuff as we have, it’s a good thing we no longer show out of a 2 horse trailer with no dressing room! Thursday dawned bright and chilly; fortunately, dressage did not start until about 12, as only Training level and all the VSEs(Very Small Equines)—except for me—were to drive that day. This gave my mom plenty of time to warm up, and allowed us to groom and be ‘go-fer’ for each other.
My mom drove Dan at the Preliminary level—his first time at Prelim, and his fourth driving show. He did pretty well, considering the size of the event and his amount of experience at shows. They sat in fourth after Dressage, close behind the next competitor. Dan got lots of compliments on how beautiful he was.
Then came Friday. Friday, all of the Preliminary horses and ponies, and all of the Intermediate competitors drove dressage. The order of go listed me as last, in a class all my own—Single Intermediate VSE. Just in front of me were: Walt Rector, Diane Kastama, and Fritz Grupe….lets just say those are HARD acts to follow. Diane’s going to the Disabled Driving World Championships, Fritz is the National Pairs Champion, and Walt is also a very high level pairs driver. Rather humbling to go out and drive my dressage test after them. But we did it. And not too badly either; right on the high(high=bad, low=good) end of the average scores for Intermediate. Hopefully we will get better. Interestingly enough, the average time taken to drive the test we drove was 8 minutes; we did it in 11 minutes…the head judge thought it would take 16 minutes ( I didn’t think so).
Because there was no official course walk, we were very glad we had brought bikes, as the Horse Park sprawls over a bunch of rolling hills. Walking hazards (to choose the best route) is not something I would suggest by moonlight! The hazards were excellent, with plenty of routes and a good mix of technical and tight, and wide open and flowing. The course was absolutely gorgeous, as the Horse Park is meant to be a multipurpose facility and is huge. As I was, again, last, after all of the competitors, I was a little worried about the footing, especially in the water hazards and on some of the course. My mom was second to go, so she had a nice packed course to play on.
Early in the morning (9:05), my mom and Dan drove off on the marathon, starting Sect. A. Because she had to borrow my marathon cart (hers developed a problem that rendered it unfit for marathon), she took it nice and easy in the hazards, which didn’t help her score any, but Dan looked very nice. Then we sat around and watched other marathon gos, enjoying the variety of turnouts.
Finally it was my turn to hitch and go—after putting on a new glue shoe on Fascination and rebanding her braids. Of course, we were early, so we spent a good half hour walking around in circles, waiting for start of Sect. A. Since Intermediate VSEs get to have a three section marathon (A, D, E) instead of a two section marathon (A and E), we had a walk section this time! (Sect. A is a trot section with no hazards, D is the walk section, and E is a trot section with hazards) Our marathon was a nice long one this time: 2.9 km Sect A, 1 km Sect D, and 7.3 km Sect E, for a total of 11.2 km on course, and a time around an hour and 15 minutes—by far the longest anyone would be out on course. Our marathon go was one of the best we have ever done—she was smooth and responsive with lots of speed (which she never lacks). Our total marathon penalties (calculated off of the time spent in hazards) was about 50, which was the lowest of all the Intermediates—meaning we were the fastest overall in the hazards! Looking at the scores later, Fascination and I were 3rd fastest in two of the six hazards, 2nd fastest in one, and the fastest in 3 of the 6.
Coming into End of E (end of the marathon), Fascination was only lightly sweated and had plenty left. This earned us the Best Conditioned Horse award, which was a horse heart monitor from Carriage Driving Essentials. Haven’t tried it yet, but it should be awesome!
Finally it was Sunday, cones day! For once, my mom and I hitched and drove at the same time that weekend. Cones was a sprawling course, only tight for horses in a couple of spots. My mom, having little to lose, went all out and cantered the whole course, and went double clean (no course or time penalties). Her time was faster than most of the horses. I drove more conservatively than normal, trotting most of the course, and only galloping a couple sections. But still, I think we were one of the fastest times. We also went double clean.
At the end of each class, they handed out the ribbons and read the placings. My mom was third out of four in Prelim Single VSE, and I was one out of one in Intermediate Single VSE. However, after cones, I was second overall in the Intermediate division (out of 11), and first among the singles. The top Intermediate driver was Fritz Grupe with his amazing horses—I am very pleased to be anywhere near his scores! Fascination is one of the first Intermediate VSEs in the US, certainly the first in CA. I don't know whether any other events have actually offered Intermediate VSE.
So there you have it….exhaustingly long and probably way too much information. Never mind that, pretty pictures to follow!
And the URL links have more pictures that are cool to look at, but I didn't want to put that many pictures on here!
Dan:
Walking out to the warm up ring:
He was a little bouncy at first...
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...70/ed9496a9.jpg
But got better:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...a4/ed9496a1.jpg
And in dressage, trotting around the arena:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...b9/ed949699.jpg
Showing off a very nice lengthened trot:
And marathon--trotting into Hazard 4:
Entering the water in Hazard 4:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...00/ed9496bf.jpg
And cantering out of the water in 4:
Trotting out of Hazard 5, "Stumphenge":
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...a5/ed9496b5.jpg
And now for Fascination and I:
Thursday workout, dirty harness and marathon cart:
Practicing the beginnings of a collected trot (it is going to be a long time before she is strong enough to hold a lot of collected strides, but we are getting there):
And some lengthened trot:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...c1/ed948b35.jpg
And some working trot (a little stronger than I would like to see):
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...e3/ed948b3a.jpg
And dressage on Friday:
Working trot:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid2...ae/ed949668.jpg
Lengthened Walk:
Head Study, with her pretty little braids (yes, the forelock is supposed to stay down, but it didn't):
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